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Sports & Leisure

The nation's passion for sports is obvious every day—at NASCAR races, kiddie soccer matches, and countless other contests. From a handball used by Abraham Lincoln to Chris Evert's tennis racket to a baseball signed by Jackie Robinson, the roughly 6.000 objects in the Museum's sports collections bear witness to the vital place of sports in the nation's history. Paper sports objects in the collections, such as souvenir programs and baseball cards, number in the hundreds of thousands.

Leisure collections encompass a different range of objects, including camping vehicles and gear, video games, playing cards, sportswear, exercise equipment, and Currier and Ives prints of fishing, hunting, and horseracing. Some 4,000 toys dating from the colonial period to the present are a special strength of the collections.

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The Cate family of Lakeport, New Hampshire purchased this trailer in 1936 to serve as their vacation home. Cars and highways had created vast new recreational opportunities, and during the Depression many families who were financially stable still enjoyed driving to remote scenic areas. The Cates, like other trailer owners, thought of touring as an extension of home life, and they could afford the security, comfort, and intimacy of a manufactured cottage on wheels.

Eben Cate was a rural mail carrier on a route through several villages near Lake Winnipesaukee. He earned two weeks of vacation time per year. In 1936 he saw this trailer in a showroom in Laconia, a few miles from his home, and purchased it for pleasure trips. Eben and Vernie and their children, Rudolph and Virginia, made one trip to Florida in their new trailer in 1937, staying one night in many different locations. Every summer during the 1940s, they spent a week at Decatur Motor Camp at York Beach on the southern coast of Maine. They kept house in the trailer, went for walks, and swam in the Atlantic Ocean. Vernie did the housekeeping — not much of a vacation for her, but a change of scenery nonetheless. The Cates also visited Vernie's relatives in East Corinth, Vermont and parked the trailer "out near the barn" with an electrical hookup. The wooden trailer came equipped with a bedroom, sofa beds, table, kitchen, closets, and cupboards.

House trailers were so appealing that thousands of itinerant people lived in them full-time in the 1930s. But early residential trailer camps had poor sanitary conditions and no landscaping. Some observers believed that traditional communities were threatened by the existence of these ad hoc, transient communities. Trailers created contradictory feelings of pride and disapproval —a far cry from the euphoric autocamping outings of the 1920s.

The Washington Redskins Marching Band was created after the National Football League team moved from Boston to Washington D.C. in 1938. Composed of an all-volunteer orchestra, the Redskins Band was a pioneer in half-time entertainment. 1938 also marked the introduction of the team's fight song "Hail to the Redskins."

Dirt oval tracks, speeds of 90 miles per hour or more, and the relatively light weight of sprint cars combined to produce a spectacular racing style. Drivers maintain top speeds on turns, letting the rear wheels slide while balancing throttle and steering. Stapp Enterprises built this car in Brownsburg, Indiana. It has a Chevrolet V-8 engine, spring front, and torsion bar rear suspension. The transmission has only one speed, but the rear axle contains a quick-change section that allowed the mechanic to change the final gear ratio in the pits. This car raced on dirt tracks, primarily in Ohio and Indiana but as far south as Florida and as far east as Pennsylvania. Its most successful driver was Duane “Pancho” Carter, who won the 1974 United States Auto Club (USAC) championship. Other drivers include Johnny Rutherford, Jackie Howerton, and Terry White.

This badminton set from the early 20th century was produced by the Abercrombie and Fitch Company. Badminton clubs were organized in the United States as early as 1878, but the sport didn't become truly popular in the nation until the 1930s.

This Otto Moore basketball card is number 70 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Houston Rockets center on a pink background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “Otto has gained over 20 pounds since entering NBA,” as well as a short biography and career statistics.

Moore played nine seasons in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Kansas City-Omaha Kings, and New Orleans Jazz. The center averaged 8.2 points and 8.2 rebounds during his 682 game-career.

This Elmore Smith basketball card is number 76 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Buffalo Braves center on a pink background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “Elmore is first 7-footer to play for Braves,” as well as a short biography and career statistics.

Elmore played in the NBA from 1971-1979 as a member of the Buffalo Braves, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Cleveland Cavaliers. Elmore led the league in blocks in 1974 with an average of 4.9 per game, which remains the third-highest ever recorded for a single season. Smith also set the single-game record for blocks with 17 in a 1973 game against Portland.

This Harlem Globetrotters card is number 82 in a series of 84 featuring the Harlem Globetrotter basketball team that was issued by the Fleer Corporation in 1972. The front of the card features an image of an unidentified Harlem Globetrotters player. The card’s reverse features the history of the Globetrotters, detailing the players that played for the first team in 1927.

The Harlem Globetrotters—originally called the Savoy Big Five—were founded in 1927 as a promotion for the Savoy Ballroom nightclub in Chicago. The team soon changed their name to associate themselves with the African-American cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. This gave the Globetrotters the prestige of being associated with Harlem, while also letting white Midwestern audiences know what to expect when the team came to town. Before the advent and rise of the NBA, the Globetrotters drove to small towns in the Midwest and played competitive games against other semi professional teams in a practice known as “barnstorming.” The Globetrotters soon became one of the America’s best teams, and they began to incorporate “The Show” into their games to keep the score close. As the years went by, these tricks and comedic routines became the centerpiece of Globetrotter games that they are still known for today.

This Tom Boerwinkle basketball card is number 68 in a series of 175 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1970-1971 National Basketball Association season. The card is longer than standard cards, measuring 2½ inches by 4 ¾ inches. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Chicago Bulls center on a yellow background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “At 7’-0” Tom is still growing,” as well as a short biography and career statistics.

It is apparent Boerwinkle is wearing his warm-ups on this card, which looks strange compared to modern cards but was common in basketball cards until the early 1970s. It is believed that the player’s would forfeit their fee to the team if the team name appeared so many players wore their jerseys backwards, wore their warm-ups, or posed in such a way to obscure the team name.

Oklahoma native Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) was awarded this trophy in 1914 for winning the 5 Mile Handicap Road Run held by the Bronxdale Athletic Club.

Thorpe, of mixed European and Native American descent, is considered one of the greatest-overall athletes in United States history. He was a star for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where he attained All-American honors in football. He went on to represent the United States at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, winning gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon. Thorpe went on to play professional football, baseball and basketball.

Thorpe's Olympic victories were revoked when it was discovered that he had made money playing semi-pro baseball, forfeiting his status as an amateur. The medals were reinstated to his family in 1983.

Baseball autographed by Don Drysdale (1936-1993). The right handed pitcher played for the Brooklyn/ Los Angeles Dodgers from 1956-1969. Drysdale finished his career with a win-loss record of 209-166, having been named to nine All-Star Teams and receiving the Cy Young Award in 1962. He was a contributor to three World Series Champion Dodger teams (1959, 1963 and 1965). Drysdale has had his number 53 retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and was elected into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1984.

This model demonstrates the invention of a mechanical crawling doll. It accompanied the patent submission of George Pemberton Clarke, who received U.S. patent No. 118,435 on 29 August 1871 for his “Natural Creeping Baby Doll.” The original patent office tag is still attached with red tape. Clarke’s patent was an improvement on the crawling baby doll patent of his associate Robert J. Clay (No. 112,550 granted 14 March 1871).

The doll’s head, two arms and two legs are made of painted plaster. The arms and legs are hinged to a brass clockwork body that actuates the arms and legs in imitation of crawling, but the doll moves forward by rolling along on two toothed wheels. A flat piece of wood is attached to top of the movement.

A commercial version of the doll is also in the collection. See also Cat. 2011.0204.01

This mechanical toy is part of a fascinating continuum of figures built to imitate human life. This long Western tradition stretches from ancient Greece through the mechanical automatons of the Enlightenment, through wind-up toys to contemporary robots and other machines with artificial intelligence.

This Pontiac No. 43 — that number was Richard Petty's hallmark, as No. 42 was for his father's cars — follows the 1984 design rules. Note the tubular space-frame, specially built body, racing wheels and tires, and safety gear in the interior. Like current NASCAR racers, its engine is not fuel-injected but uses carburetion. The car carried Petty to victory in the "Firecracker 400" race at Daytona, on July 4, 1984. The car ran one more race that year, the Talledega 500 on July 29th, but did not finish, retiring with a broken differential immediately after its first pit stop. The car owner was Curb Motorsports, owned by Mike Curb, of the family owning Canon Mills and president of Curb Records. The car was repainted by the crew of Petty Enterprises, Randleman, before presentation to the Smithsonian in late 1984. The car is configured for the last time it ran, at the 1984 Talledega race, and has that engine installed. The tires, however, are Daytona tires.

A uniquely American type of auto racing is "stock car" racing. Bill France, of Daytona Beach, Florida, had witnessed the popularity of pre-war "beach racing." In the late 1940s, he organized beach races for car-owners who liked the idea of competing against each other with more-or-less "stock" automobiles. To help him set rules for stock-car racing, France created the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, NASCAR, in 1948. In 1953, France opened a new Daytona Speedway. NASCAR came of age in 1959, with the first running of the Daytona 500 - which was won by Lee Petty, Richard Petty's father, a three-time NASCAR national champion in his own right, during the 1950s.

Richard Petty, of Randleman, NC, began his racing in the early 1960s, winning his first Daytona 500 and first of seven NASCAR national championships in 1964. NASCAR racing in the 1960s consisted of many more top-rank (i.e., Grand National, Winston Cup, and now renamed Nextel Cup) races per year than today. The norm in the 1960s was some 50 or more such races a year. In 1967, Richard Petty won 27 of these (out of 48 races, which included winning 10-straight) to set an all-time record for the most victories in a season. Over his 35-year career, his record of 200 Grand National/Winston Cup racing wins is very likely never to be equaled. (In comparison, the driver with the second-highest total of wins in NASCAR races is David Pearson, with 105 over a 26-year career.)

By the 1980s, NASCAR race-car design rules had changed radically since NASCAR's first season in 1949. That year, NASCAR's series ran under "strictly stock" rules. Cars were - or were supposed to be - unaltered from production cars. But that idea ran counter to the decades-long "tradition" among auto racers of cheating under the hood and in the chassis, i.e., adding hidden changes to the engine and suspension to make the car a better performer. Bill France decided to allow certain modifications to both a car's stock engine and its chassis, and to enforce strict discipline against cheating by employing - to look over each car and its engine in detail before each race - a bevy of inspectors answerable to France. The race series was renamed the Grand National series in 1950, and occasional cheating was not, of course, entirely eliminated. Over the years, more and more departures from "stock" components were permitted by the frequently evolving rule changes - the objective of the rule changes, nearly every time, was to let the cars average faster speeds (which brought in more fans), while at the same time trying to eliminate unfair advantages among the cars (close racing, being more exciting, pleased the fans; a race season dominated by just a few drivers that could "run away from the field" in almost every race decreased both fan interest and the interest of other race-car owners to enter their cars).

By the 1980s, NASCAR race cars were no longer "stock" at all, being entirely purpose-built, with non-stock tubular space-frames eliminating the stock frame, specially designed springing, 700-horsepower engines in which only the stripped, basic block was "stock," and — significantly — added safety and fire-suppression equipment.

Only the basic shape of the hand-made body had to follow the lines of the stock model being represented. "Spoilers" - the lateral flap added to the rear of the "trunk" - used wind to keep the rear of the car down at high speed; headlights became decals; doors didn't exist (the driver climbed-in through the left-hand window opening). Today's NASCAR race cars have even dispensed with following a production car's body lines; the smoothly shaped front-ends of the race cars are designed to reduce wind resistance to a practical minimum. The NASCAR race-car design rules rigidly enforced today are, by far, the most complex of any motorsport; these rules are designed to equalize the cars as much as possible, to provide close, competitive racing.

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by David Knox, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.

The monotony of camp life was relieved by every variety of amusement that was known, or could be devised. During the periods of inactivity, base ball, cricket, gymnastics, foot races, &c., were indulged in to a great extent, and on holidays horse races, foot races, and other games were allowed. Sometimes the men would put up a greased pole, with a prize on the top, for anyone who succeeded in climbing up to it, and not unfrequently a pig would be turned loose with a shaved and greased tail, for the men to catch. Any grip but a "tail hold" was illegitimate, but he who seized and held the pig by this appendage, carried it off in triumph to his mess.

Cock fighting, however, was quite unusual, and seldom permitted, except when some of the contrabands incited their captured Shanghais, or more ignoble fowls, to combat. Such displays were always ludicrous, and were generally exhibited for the amusement of the mess for whom the feathered bipeds were intended. Horses and mules perished by hundreds from ill-usage, but with thin exception it would be exceedingly difficult to cite an instance of cruelty to animals in the army. Fowls, dogs, kittens, and even wild animals, were made pets of, and were cared for most tenderly. Sometimes a regiment would adopt a dog, and woe to the individual who ventured to maltreat it. Several of the Western regiments carried pet bears with them, and one regiment was accompanied by a tame eagle in all its campaigns.

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.

"Cigars and cognac, with these we bivouac," says the old song, but as Cognac was, in the army, a questionable fluid, to say the least of it, and scarce at that, the lounger in the grass wisely contented himself with the pleasures of the weed. His good war-steed, in condition highly creditable to the groom, patiently accepts the opportunity to rest, evidently affording an object of critical admiration to his master, whose orderly meanwhile keeps an eye about the vicinity. There is nothing particular in the picture to account for this little halt, but those who recognize the officer, may possibly give a shrewd guess at his reasons. He is the Quartermaster of the Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, and has doubtless ridden forward to the position selected for camp, to examine its capabilities, and await the arrival of his wagon-train, in order to personally superintend the pitching of the tents, and the parking of the wagons.

To still further satisfy curiosity, it may be mentioned that the reclining officer is Captain Harry Page, since Colonel and Chief Quartermaster of the Cavalry Corps, one of the most arduous posts of duty in the service, and one whose necessities during the severe campaigns up the Shenandoah Valley, and in the vicinity of Richmond, kept the young Colonel always upon his mettle.

This honeycomb pool board was a revolutionary design by George Powell and was used by Stacy Peralta, one of the founding members of the Bones Brigade. It has a formed aluminum core with an aluminum honeycomb epoxy bonded with a filled, polyester close out. The polyurethane wheels, or Bones wheels, were also made by George Powell and the Tracker trucks were designed by Larry Balma. According to Powell, "the decks were changing monthly during this era and we had to accommodate the rapidly evolving style of skating, which quickly went from streets to ditches, to pools and skate parks. The aluminum skins were problematic because the skaters would drag the tails to slow down and that would grind them off to a razor sharp high strength aluminum edge that was very dangerous if it hit someone. This lead me to develop the Tail Bones and Nose Bones I made to protect the tips, and to experiment with lighter, better performing prototypes, of which the "Powell" you have is a prime example. It utilizes aluminum skins, aluminum honeycomb core, and epoxy to close out the edges. The wheel wells are post lamination formed by crushing the honeycomb in those areas, as this was a first, and we wanted to learn if we could get away with this shortcut to making them instead of much more expensive and time consuming alternatives."

The Powell Quicksilver skateboard has as a hard rock maple core, laminated with aluminum. The aluminum Tracker trucks were designed by Larry Balma and the yellow polyurethane wheels were a Powell design. George Powell designed and manufactured this board which was used by Stacy Peralta, a pro skateboarder in 1977. The Quicksilver was the first deck Powell made and was a successful design, but the rapid changing market made it "out of style" less than a year after it was introduced. According to Powell, "the quicksilver utilizes very high strength 7000 series aluminum alloy skins very low elongation, epoxied to hard maple cores to achieve the best strength to weight ratio. The result was a deck that turned quicker than a fiber flex, and was a little stronger and less resistant to breaking."

Swamp Rat XXX is a drag racing car of the top-fuel class, designed, built and raced by Don Garlits of Ocala, Florida. Garlits, better known as "Big Daddy," is one of the pioneers of drag racing, which is a test of acceleration on quarter-mile tracks. He began racing in 1950 in modified stock cars at Zephyr Hills, Fla., not far from his home in Tampa, shifting to drag racing in 1959. Over a 30-year career, he was one of the most innovative builders in the sport.

Swamp Rat XXX won the National Hot Rod Association championship in 1986 with a quarter-mile speed of 272.55 miles an hour. It crashed at a race in Spokane, Washington, and, along with Garlits, retired from active competition.

The vehicle displays the state of drag racing art in the 1980s: a very long wheelbase, small front wheels to minimize aerodynamic drag, engine in the rear, and a wing for added aerodynamic down force. The engine placement puts most of the vehicle's weight on the rear or driving wheels and behind the driver for safety reasons in case of an engine blow-up.

The car is covered with emblems, chiefly of sponsoring corporations. It carries a Christian cross and the words "God is Love," reflecting Garlits' experience in 1959 when, after an accident, his system could not handle pain-killing drugs. In severe pain, he cried out, "Lord help me," and his pain ceased.

This is a single glassed, lightweight surfboard with a single fin, and two fin boxes. According to the donor, Craig Stecyk, "the board was shaped by me in December of 1966. It was manufactured by Dave Sweet Surfboards, Santa Monica, CA (Sweet pictured here holding a board similar to the one donated by Stecyk). It was single glassed (less fiberglass than usual) to promote lightweight and flexibility (ditto for lack of a central strip). The fin is a Reynolds Yater #2 design from the Tom Morey Finworks. It is polypropylene in construction. The board features a stepped deck (for better sensitivity and control when riding on its front third). It has two fin boxes allowing for repositioning of the fin. (This will change the riding characteristics of the board. The center position is "normal". The outside position is the variable position). The bottom color design was also done by me and is typical of the "plastic fantastic" period. This board is entirely created from plastic materials and is a typical "stringerless" surfboard from 1966-1967. A stringer is slang for the wood center strip common to most surfboards." Stecyk is another eccentric character that lives in the surf and skate world. He is one of the people responsible for the creation of the Zephyr Surf team and the Z-Boys skate team and for bringing surf and skate art to the forefront of that distinctive culture. Stecyk was a writer for “Skateboarder Magazine” during its resurgence in the mid-1970s and spread the word about these growing sports throughout the globe providing his distinctive insight and first person narrative. Stecyk continues to practice his craft as a multimedia artist and still has a direct impact on the graffiti and street art cultures he helped create.

In 1987, General Motors, 16 GM subsidiaries, and an AeroVironment, Inc. engineering team led by company founder and famed aeronautical engineer Paul MacCready designed the GM Sunraycer to compete in the first World Solar Challenge in Australia. The team combined lightweight materials, solar power technology, and cutting edge power management systems to create this energy efficient speedster. Sunraycer’s photovoltaic solar cells converted the sun’s radiation into electricity to power its motor and charge the battery. Gallium arsenide cells make up 80 percent of the solar arrays, and single crystal silicon cells comprise the remaining 20 percent. The chassis was constructed of aluminum tubing, and the lightweight body was made of two Kevlar layers sandwiching a layer of Numex. The race began on November 1, 1987; the route was a 1,950-mile north-to-south transcontinental course starting in Darwin and ending in Adelaide. Sunraycer won the challenge by completing the route in 5 1/4 days with a running time of 44.9 hours and an average speed of 41.6 miles per hour. Ford’s Sunchaser finished second, 2 1/2 days and over 620 miles behind Sunraycer. After the race, Sunraycer went on a national tour of auto shows, museums, and schools to promote interest among students in alternative energy technology and engineering careers. When the tour ended, GM donated Sunraycer to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Using lessons learned from the World Solar Challenge, GM and AeroVironment collaborated on the development of the GM Impact battery-powered electric car. Sunraycer provided new insights into how driver activity, power consumption, battery life, and range interact. The Impact was the prototype for the EV1, GM's first electric production car. AeroVironment carried the research and development from Sunraycer, Impact, and EV1 into other technologies, including rapid battery charging systems and power processing systems used to test and develop electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and batteries. Sunraycer laid the theoretical and practical foundation that made modern electric and hybrid vehicles practical for everyday transportation.